Ventilating means for automobiles



P 1936- L. c. HELFINSTINE 2,055,843

VENTILATING MEANS FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed March 14, 1935 4 ATTORNEYPatented Sept. 29, 1936 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,055,843vnN'rlnaTm'G MEANS non AUTOMOBILES Leroy o. Helflnstine, Dayton, OhioApplication March 14, lean-serial No. 11,015

2 Claims. (or. 237-123) 'This invention relates to-new and usefulimprovements in ventilating means for automobiles. Proper ventilation isjust as necessary in a vehicle asin a home. It is therefore one of theprincipal objects of my invention to provide simple and efficientmeansoperated by the cooling-fan drive of anautomobile, forpromoting acirculation of air through the latter in a manner that will contributeto the health and comfort of the occupants. It is a further object of myinvention to provide means for taking the ventilating air in cold.

weather from jackets surroundingthe exhaust manifold, which heat thatair sufliciently to keep the interior of the car comfortablywarm in thewinter time. V

Other important and incidental objects will be brought out in thefollowing specification and particularly set forth in the subjoinedclaims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, of whichFigure 1 is a longitudinal, sectional view taken through an automobile,showing my ventilating and heating means therein; Figure 2 is aperspective view of the front seat in section, showing the heating andventilating means provided therein. And Figure 3 is a perspective'viewof one of the adjustable fan shaft brackets on the engine block.

Comingnow to a detailed description of the invention, the numeral l inthe accompanying drawing designates an automobile of a wellhown type,including among other units, a radi-i ator 2, antinternal combustionengine 3, hood ,4,

cowl 5, front seat 6, and closed body 1.

Suitably mounted between the radiator' 2 and the engine'3, is aconventional cooling fan 8 driven by a belt 3 from a pulley ill on thecrank shaft ll. .Thisfa'n is mounted on a shaft it which carries,besides the pulley l3 that receives the belt 9, an auxiliary pulley l4.

, For the pin-pose of driving my ventilating fan mechanismfrom thepulley l4, I mount on the. engine block 3, brackets I 5 which carry ahori- 46 zontal fan shaft l3. Secured to the front portion of thisshaftis a pulley I1 which is driven from the pulley I 4 by a belt ll.

As shown in Figure 3, each bi-acket I5 is adjustable, comprisingan anglebase |9 bolted to "the motor block 3. A sliding member 20, formed withan elongated slot 2| through which a guide screw 22 projects into thebase member, carries a I bearing member 23' for the fan shaft it. Bymeans of these adjustable brackets I 5, the fan 55 shaft l8 may beproperly supported by difl'erent latter.

sized motor blocks, after being passed through a hole in the cowl 5.

Attached to that part of the shaft [6 which projects through the cowl,is a ventilating fan 24. The latter is covered by a box 25 secured tothe 5 cowl and provided in its inner face with louvers 26 which may beadjusted to give the desired direction to the air flow generated by thefan.

For thepurpose of heating, as well as ventilating, the closed body I ofthe car, I have provided 10 the following means. Referring to Figures 1and 2, the numeral 21 designates the exhaust manifold of the explosiveengine 3. Surrounding this manifold, under the front seat 5, is a'jacket 28 I that has an upwardly projecting portion 29 which 15 iscovered by a grille 30 in the floor 3| in front of the seat 6.

Through the grille 30 air enters the jacket 28 to be heated .by themanifold 21 and discharged into a tube 32 which leads from the jacket toa 20 box or casing 33 set in a recess in the rear upper portion of theseat 6.

Adjustably mounted in the outer face portion of the box 33 are louvers34 which may be set to give the desired direction to the heated airenter- 25 ing the box 33 from the tube-32 and blown outwardly by a fan35. This fan is secured to a shaft 36 journaled in a bearing 3'! in thecasing wall and projecting through the latter for sup-' port at itsfront end by a bracket 38 attached to 30 the casing.

Mounted on the front end of the shaft 36 1s a pulley 39 which is drivenby a belt 40 from a pulley 4| secured to the rear end of a horizontalshaft 42 carried by adjustable brackets 43 at-. '35 tached to thechannel frame 44 of the car beneath the seat 6. Secured to the frontendof the shaft 36 is a pulley 45 directly under a pulley 45 mounted on theshaft it between the engine 3 and the cowl 5. Bymeans of a belt 41passing aroundthe 40 pulleys 45 and 46, the fan 35 is rotated by thesame shaft that operates the fan 24, this being the shaft l6 which is inturn rotated by the regular fan shaft i2 of the automobile.

For the purpose of supplying heated air in the 45 winter time to thefan'box 25, I connect the latter, by a 'pipe 48, to a jacket 49surrounding the front of the exhaust'manifold 21. Mounted in. the pipe48 is a butterfiyyalve 50 which may be, turned to close it against theadmission of 50 hot air to the fan box 25 in summer or any other desiredtime. When the butterfly valve is closed, air from'the car interior maybe admittedto the fan box by dropping a hinged bottom 51 on the r Thetube 32 may also be closed against the admission of heated air to thefan box 33 by a two-way valve 52 actuated by a pull rod 53 that projectsthrough a hole in the rear portion of the seat 8. When this valve isclosed, air may be admitted to the tube 32 through a grille in the backor the seat 6 below the louvers 34, and communicating with the tube 32above the valve 52 through a short tube 55. When the valve 52 is in avertical position, as shown in Figure 1, the tube 32 is open to the hotair jacket 28 and closed to the cool air admission tube 55.

If it is desired at any time to render the entire ventilating fanmechanism inoperative, it may be done by disconnecting the coupling 58carried by the shaft Ii.

It will now be seen that I have provided air circulation means operatedby the cooling-fan shaft for achieving efllcient ventilation of anautomobile through the medium of heated air in winter and cool air inthe summertime.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. The combination with a seat of a closed automobile, a box mounted inthe rear portion of said seat, a tan mounted for rotation in said box,means for rotating said fan, an exhaust manifold under said seat, ajacket surrounding said manifold, a grilled opening for said manifold toreceive external air for heating by said manifold, a vertical tubeconnected between the said jacket and the fan box fordelivering heatedair to said box,

a horizontal tube communicating with the vertical tube, and being openat its outer end to the external air around said seat, and a valve inthe vertical tube for closing it against the passage of heated air fromsaid jacket to the fan box, and for opening it to the horizontal tubewhereby cooler air may be admitted therethrough to the ian box in thesummertime.

2. The combination with a seat of a closed automobile, an enclosure insaid seat, a fan mounted for rotation in saidenclosure, means forrotating said fan, an exhaust manifold under said seat, a jacketsurrounding said manifold. means for said manifold to receive externalair for heating by said manifold, a tube connected between said jacketand the fan enclosure for delivering heated air to said enclosure, asecond tube communicating with'the first tube, and being open at itsouter end to'the external air around said seat, and a valve in the firsttube for closing it against the passage of heated air from said jacketto the tan enclosure, and for opening it to the second tube wherebycooler air. may be admitted therethrough to the Ian enclosure.

LEROY C. rmu'ms'rnm.

